Apparatus for handling ammunition



2 sheets-411m 2* (No Model.)

s. SEABURY. I APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AMMUNITION.

No. 366.348. PatentedJuly 12,1887.

UNITED STATES I PATENT FFICE.

SAMUEL SEABURY, OF STONY BROOK, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AMMUNITION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 366,348, dated July 12, 1887.

Application tiled March 19, 1887. Serial No. 281,496.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, SAMUEL SEABURY, of Stony Brook, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, lieutenant United States Navy, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Handling Ammunition, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a convenient device which may be lowered over a projectile or other ammunition when the latter is standing in an upright position,and which, by the swinging of a bail provided upon it into a position for hoisting the shell or ammunition, will be made to engage automatically with the shell or ammunition for lifting it; alsoyto so construct the device that it will serve to protect the breech of the gun in passing the shell or ammunition from it into the gun.

Inits most complete form my improved device includes a cylindric casing which is open at both endsand substantially closed as to its side wall or periphery, and which has expanding members adapted to'engagethe ammuni- I tion by contraction thereon, and clamping devices whereby the expansible members may be contracted on the ammunition to engage with it for lift-ing it. The case may be longitudinally divided, and may have connected with it pivotally a bail for lifting it, which serves, when swung upward into lifting position in line with the axis of the case, to contract the members of the case into lifting engagement with the ammunition. The bail may be provided with handles which when extended horizontally from opposite sides serve as a means of carrying the case with its contained ammunition. The bail engages with trunnions on the case, and the case is prefer ably divided longitudinally through these trunnions, and the bail is provided with cams whereby the sections of the'case are, moved apart to expand thecase and release the ammunition when the case is swung into approximately horizontal position for loading. Ialso provide in connection with the case a stop for preventing forward movement of. the ammuan elevation similar to Figs. 1 and 2, but in a The bail has (No model.)

eyes which are elongated in the direction of its length, and which receive the trunnions, and consequently when the bail is swung into position lengthwise of the case, as in lifting, its elongated eyes serve as clamping devices for contracting the case into lifting engagement with the ammunition.

The invention consists in novel combination of parts and features of construction, which are l ereinabove referred to and hereinafter described, and pointed out 'in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents my improved device as.slippcd over a projectile preparatory to lifting the same. 4 Fig. 2 represents the device having its bail, swung upward into line with the case, so as to contract the case into engagement with r the projectile for lifting the latter. Fig. 3 is tudinal sectionv throughjhe case, representing the'lower half thereof in plan view. Figs. 6 and 7 are end views of th'ecase and projectile, including a sectional view through the trunnions andthe baileyes, Fig. 6 representing the bail as swung into a position for contract- '8 5 ing the divided case upon a projectile, and Fig. 7 representing the bail as swung into a position to permit of the ammunition being slipped from the case into the gun; -and Fig. 8 is a face view, upon a larger scale,'repr esent ing-a portion of the divided case andone of the bail-eyes which is applied to the trunnions of the case, showing the eye in such position 7 relatively to the case as to constitute a clamping device for contracting thetwo sections or members of the case into lifting engagement with the'projectile.

Similar letters of reference designate correspondingparts in all the figures. l,

v A designates the projectile or ammunition, which may be either a cartridgeyafsolid shot,

or a shell, and the device whichlsh'alln'ow de', l

as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, its

- structed that when the nions, constitute scribe is intended to be slipped downward over the ammunition when it is supported on its end near the shell room or magazine, to contract into lifting engagement with the ammunition by the very act of drawing upward upon the tackle B, whereby the ammunition is to be lifted and to support the ammunition in horizontal position preparatory to and during its insertion in a gun. a

The device consists in its essential elements of a cylindric case which comprises expandingmembers, and in this example of my in-. vention the cylindric case is composed of two sections or members, 0 O, or, in other words,is longitudinally divided,and its sections or members are formed with an internal shoulder, 0, adapted to engage a corresponding shoulder, 6, upon the projectile A. When the cylindric case 0 O is expanded, as shown in Fig. 1, it may be slipped freelydownward, as shown in Fig. 1, upon the ammunition, so as to bring the shoulder 0 below the shoulder or projection 0,- but after contraction of the cylindric casing the shoulder c is brought into lifting engagement with the shoulder c, as represented in Fig. 2, and bymeans of the casing 00 the ammunition may be lifted.

In this exampleof my' invention the case is provided with a bail, D, pivotally connected with its opposite sides,and through which the case and its-contained ammunition are lifted, and this bail is so constructed that when swung upward into position lengthwise of the case, eyes, which receive the trunnions clamping devices for contracting the two sections 0 G of the case -into lifting engagement with the ammunition. The bail is also so conammunition-case G O is swung into horizontal position and suspended by the bail D, as represented in Fig. 4, preparatory to transferring the ammunition A from the case to the breech of a gun, E, the sections 0 G of the case will be separated .and the ammunition A, by a rammer, E, may he slipped, forward from the case CO intothe breech of the gun E. The longitudinal lineof division 0 of the case is through the trunnions c and the eyes (1 of the bail which receive the trunnions c are elongated in the direction of the length'of, the bail, and when the bail is swung upward into the positions shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 'S'the divided trunnion c? rests in the lower portion of theelongated eye d, and the two eyesdat' opposite ends of the.

bail, by their action upon the divided trunclamping devices for contracting the cylindric case 0 G into lifting engagement with the-ammunition .A.

' In order to expand the case-sections C C'- whenthe' case with-its contained ammunition is swung into theposition shown in Fig. 4, I

- screws f rigidly provide cams upon the bail resented, a capplate,

F, is applied to-each' divided trunnion,

said plate being secured by to one trunnion-section, and

being connected by a screw and slot, f ,with

'0 of the case, constitute D. As here rep.-

case is swung into a horizontal position. The

cover-plate F also has .a stop-pin, f", and the bail D has shoulders f j, which, by coming against this stop-pin, limitthis swinging movement of the bail D relatively to the case 0 C.

To enable the case 0 O and its contained ammunition to be carried by hand, I provide handles D, which are represented as pivotally connected at d with the bail D, so that they may be swung into horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 3, when desired for use, and will drop downward into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 when not desired for use.

In order to prevent the ammunition A from sliding forward prematurely into. the breech -of the gunE by reason of the rolling of the vessel, or from any other cause, before the case has been insertedto its full extent into the breech of the gun E, I have represented a stop-pin,- h, as projecting through an oblique slot, h, into the lower section, 0, of the case, and thisstop=pin h is connected with or projectsfromalongitudinally-slidingboltJz which normally projects slightly forward of the casesection 0, as is shown in Fig. 5, and has applied to it a spring, h, for so projecting it forward. The bolt h slides in a frame h, which is secured upon the lower section, 0, of the case, and which, when the case is inserted into the breech of thegun, enters the groove or channel cut, through the screw-thread of the breech, and which receive one of the threaded projections on the breech-block when the latter is slipped .into. the breech preparatory to turning it into engagement with the thread.

The section 0' of the case has a forward projection or lip, 0, which is of such. length as to cover the screw-thread e of the breech, and prevent contact of the ammunition A therewith in inserting E. It is obvious that any sliding movement imparted to the bolt it will, by reason of the oblique 'orcain-like slot h acting upon the pin h, cause the bolt hto turn on its axis, and

thereby retract the stop-pin h from the path of the ammunition, so as to permit of the ammunition being readily slipped forward 'into the gun. When the case 0 G is inserted into the breech .of thegun, as shown in Fig. 4, this bolt h at its forward end strikes the gun and is pushed" back relatively to the case 0 (3,

the ammunition into the gun Y thereby retracting the stop it from the path of the ammunitionand permitting the ammunition' to beslipped. forward into proper posi- .tion in the gun.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y ,1. The device'herein described for handling I ammunition, consisting of a cylindrical case which is substantially closed as to its side wall or periphery and open at the ends, and which has projecting from its inner surface near the lower end expanding members adapted to engage the ammunition by con traction thereon, and a bail pivotally connected with the case and serving when'swung into position for lifting to contract the memnition, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with a longitudinally divided and expansible case open at both ends, and having trunnions formed inzpart upon each section of the caseyof a bail having eyes-whichreceive the divided trunnions andwhich serves when swung upward into lifting position to contract themembers of the case into lifting engagement with the amml1- nition,snbstantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with a longitudinally divided and expansible case for receiving am- 'munition, of a bail pivotally connected with the case. and serving both to lift it and by swinging to contract its members into lifting engagement with the ammunition, and handlessecured to the bail to project laterally therefrom, whereby the case and contained ammunition may be carried, substantially as herein described. p

4. The combination, with a cylindrical and expansible ammunition having trunnions and divided through its trunnions, of a bail swinging on the trunnions and .having 7 cams whereby the members of. the case are.

moved apart to expand the mse'and release the ammunition when the case is swung into approximately horizontal position'for loading,

substantially as herein described.

-5. The combination,with a cylindrical case for containing ammunition and for lifting it to the breech of 'a gun, of a stop for preventthe case, and'a sliding bolt on the case,which when moved by contact with the gum serves to retract/the stop from the path of the ammunition, substantially as herein described.

t 6; The device herein described for handling ammunition and loading guns therewith, consistizfg of a cylindrical case having expanding members, and having a forward projection or lip for entering the breech of the gun, and clamping devices whereby the members may be contracted into lifting engagement with the ammunition, substantially as herein set forth,

7. The combinatiomwith the case QC, having trunnions and divided longitudinally through the trunnio'ns, of the bailD, having eyes for receiving the trunnions, and' which are elongated in the direction of its length, sothat when the bail is-swung into position lengthwise of the case, as in'liftingflts eyes serve as;

clamping devices for contracting the case into lifting engagement with the ammunition, substantially as herein described.

. p SAMUEL SEA-BURY. Witnesseszf c. HALL,

C. L, Bnuns.

' ing forward movement of the ammunition in hers into lifting engagement with the ammu- 

